12 Super Foods

I love reading articles about food and health and I came across an excellent one on MSN the other day. It listed 12 super foods that can heal and protect against all kinds of sickness. I'll list them below, click on the link for the article HERE to read the specifics!

1-Kiwifruit - has double the vitamin C found in oranges, more fiber than apples, and more potassium than bananas.

2-Cherries - fight inflammation and cancer.

3-Guava - Contains more Lypolene than any other fruit or veggie. Lypolene protects our healthy cells and fights cancer.

4-Beans - are a miracle food. From the article..."If you think fiber, protein, and antioxidants and immediately think, whole grains, meat and fruit, think again - beans offer all three in a single package."

5-Watercress - 4 times more calcium than milk, as much vitamin C as an orange and more iron than spinach

6-Spinach - protects against vision loss. It includes an assortment of vitamins...including vitamin K, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, magnesium and iron.

7-Onions & I'll add Garlic - "Onions are also extremely rich in sulfur and they have antibiotic and antiviral properties, making them excellent for people who consume a diet high in protein, fat, or sugar...".

8-Carrots - "In Chinese medicine, carrots are used to treat rheumatism, kidney stones, tumors, indigestion, diarrhea, night blindness, ear infections, earaches, deafness, skin lesions, urinary tract infections, coughs, and constipation."

9-Cabbage - "Cabbage is a powerhouse source of vitamins K and C. Just one cup supplies 91 percent of the recommended daily amount for vitamin K, 50 percent of vitamin C, good amounts of fiber, and decent scores of manganese, vitamin B6, folate, and more—and it'll only cost you about 33 calories. Calorie for calorie, cabbage offers 11 percent more vitamin C than oranges."

10-Broccoli - "A single cup of steamed broccoli provides more than 200 percent of the RDA for vitamin C (again, more than oranges), nearly as much of vitamin K, and about half of the daily allowance for vitamin A, along with plentiful folate, fiber, sulfur, iron, B vitamins, and a whole host of other important nutrients."

11-Kale - Kale is in the same family as broccoli and cabbage. "Kale is highly nutritious, has powerful antioxidant properties, and is anti-inflammatory." *Kale grows fast! It is best grown in your garden in the early spring and fall. Plant in the shade during summer.

12-Dandelion - promotes digestive health, treats heartburn and indigestion, and packs potassium that over the counter constipation remedies lack.

I loved this article! It gives new meaning to the phrase your Mommy repeated "eat your vegetables". This article suggested putting your greens like spinach, watercress and kale in a fruit smoothie. It masks the taste. My Sister-in-law also puts carrots in her shakes. This is great for kids who fight you on eating their greens. There is so much more interesting info in this article, so if you have the time...check it out ;)